The secret history of Silicon Valley

The story of Silicon Valley, that I have helped to perpetuate in my career as a PR professional is that of the classic plucky young start-up founders going from garage to boardroom. Dare I say it there is even a ‘start-up’ monomyth. Bright young things work really hard developing cool | amazing inventions in a spare room | garage. Their ideas inspire rich people or organisations to fund them and they become financially successful. The world is enriched by their innovation. The truth of course is somewhat postmodern in comparison, but that wouldn’t have paid my bills.

There are a number of histories of Silicon Valley, some include the beat and counterculture generations of the 1960s, others include square-jawed engineers who would look right at home on the set of Mad Men. This video of a talk at Google highlights the role of the military industrial complex in the growth of Silicon Valley.